Table 1 Health State Descriptions for the TTO

Stable schizophrenia – No side-effects

Base-Case Stable Condition^a

• I am in my mid-30's, living alone with no dependants.

• My condition puts some limits on my daily life including the necessity to take regular medication. I have no problems with self-care and am able to complete household chores, but I don't meet too many new people.

• I am able to work at a part-time paid or voluntary job.

• Sometimes I hear things that no one else hears. I think someone is calling my name but when I turn around, no one is there. The things they say aren't scary, like when I was really sick, they are just calling my name.

• Sometimes it feels like there are other people in my house that shouldn't be there, or that people go through my things without asking. I don't think about this most of the time though.

No consequences from the treatment

Weight gain side-effect

Base-Case Stable Condition plus

Consequences from the treatment:

• In the last six months I have gained more than a stone in weight and it makes me pretty depressed as I find it very hard to lose weight by diet and exercise.

• The extra weight has restricted my mobility and breathing and made some of my clothes too tight.

• I am worried about my weight gain because I have heard that that this might cause diabetes, heart problems and make me lose a year or two off my life expectancy.

Diabetes side-effect

Base-Case Stable Condition plus

Consequences from the treatment:

• Since taking treatment I have been diagnosed with diabetes – my doctor says that it may be due to my treatment.

• I have started to feel tired and need to urinate more often. I also seem to feel nauseous and get sick more often.

• My doctor told me to change my eating habits so I have a more balanced diet, as well as drinking a maximum of two alcoholic drinks per day and taking my oral medication – otherwise the diabetes could get worse.

• The doctors are also telling me to exercise a lot more than before. I need to always make sure that I have my medicine and something sweet with me in case I get dizzy or faint.

• I need to test my blood sugar levels every day by pricking my finger with a pin and putting the blood on a paper strip.

• My doctor told me about research showing people with diabetes might lose more than five years off life expectancy

Hyperprolactinemia side-effect (Male)

Base-Case Stable Condition plus

Consequences from the treatment

• I feel less interested in sex and when I do have sex, it is not as good as it was before I started treatment

• My doctor tells me that there is also a good chance that my breasts will be bigger than other men's and that a little milk might sometimes come from them.

Hyperprolactinemia side-effect (Female)

Base-Case Stable Condition plus

Consequences from the treatment

• I feel less interested in sex and when I do have sex, it is not as good as it was before I started treatment

• My doctor tells me that taking the treatment may make my periods not come when I think they will. The doctor also tells me that I might also have a little milk flow from my nipple when it shouldn't.

EPS side-effect

Base-Case Stable Condition plus

Consequences from the treatment

• Since I started treatment it seems as though I don't have full control over my muscles.

• Often I feel that my muscles are quivering and I just can't seem to sit still, while other times it actually feels at though my muscles are undergoing spasms.

• Other times it seems as though my body is moving when I don't want it to, and I do things like thrusting my tongue, marching up and down on the spot and humming.

• Sometimes people say that I shuffle rather than walk, and that my face doesn't show any emotion.

Relapse

• My condition has forced me to go back to hospital for treatment, and not many people come to see me – not that I want to see anyone

• It depresses me that I seem to have gone back to where I started before treatment, it seems as though there was no point in taking all those medicines

• I am not able to work at the moment and I am worried that my employer will not want me back

• I hear people calling me names and telling me to do things, just like I did when I was really sick

• It feels like the other people in the hospital are watching me, and talking about me behind my back.